Krejci has missed a total of nine games this season due to what is believed to be a hip injury-turned-somewhere-else-in-the-lower-body injury. He missed the first three games of the season, returned for nine, sat two, played one and sat the last four. He is nearing his latest return to the lineup and is a possibility to play Tuesday against the Blues.

Though the injuries may not be the same, the frustration of coming back into the lineup only to leave it again is similar. McQuaid suffered a lower-body injury in the 15th game of last season and went on to miss eight games before returning to play 15 more. He came up lame again on Jan. 19 against the Blackhawks and, despite thinking at times that he was nearing a return, did not play another game the rest of the season. The team said they were shutting him down for 2-3 weeks in March due to a quad strain, but the setbacks he had piled up and eventually led to him being shut down for the year and given surgery on another area that needing cleaning up in his ankle.

As McQuaid looks back on his 2013-14 and how he can relate to Krejci, he says the frustrating part is thinking you’re ready to go only to find out that you aren’t.

“When I went through it, you’re trying to gauge where you’re at, and you take the proper steps and it’s like, ‘OK, I feel good.’ Then you try the next thing,” McQuaid said. “Until you try the next thing, you don’t know. Sometimes it doesn’t go as planned, and then the competitive [aspect] — wanting to push yourself to get back a little bit quicker than you should at times – probably doesn’t help. It takes a little time.”

This season, McQuaid hasn’t had to worry about such uncertainty. He’s played in all 19 games for the Bruins thus far ‘ the longest stretch of consecutive games he’s had since the lockout-shortened season ‘ and has been an important part of a blue line that has lost Johnny Boychuk to a trade and has also lost Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Torey Krug to various injuries at points.

There was a time while McQuaid was out last season that it appeared he would ultimately be expendable on Boston’s back end, but it has become the opposite. McQuaid, who has played 19:55 a night this season, has taken on the opposition’s top-six forwards regularly after serving as a third-pairing guy for the vast majority of his first four seasons when in the lineup.

“It’s great to be back and a part of things here and being with the guys on a daily basis and being in the same routine,” he said. “When you’re not practicing and playing and traveling, you’re still at the rink and you still see the guys and stuff, but it’s not quite the same. I’m really enjoying that part, being back in and being on the ice. Feeling like you’re a part of wins is nicer than anything.”

McQuaid can only hope that the similarities between his 2013-14 season and Krejci’s 2014-15 season end now. Krejci is the Bruins’ best offensive player and has been a point-a-game player with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his 10 games played this season.

Once Krejci returns, McQuaid has his fingers crossed that everything will be back to normal and that Krejci won’t have to experience what McQuaid did a season ago.

“That’s the hope,” he said. “I haven’t gone into great detail with him about how he’s getting along. I mean, we’ve talked a little here and there, but again, now is the time if you need the extra time, to take it. At the same time, it’s hard. If you’re feeling good, you’re going to go. If you’re feeling good, you’re not going to take extra time if you don’t feel like you need it. Hopefully when he’s back, he’s back and back to stay.”

Brad Marchand left Bruins morning skate after one line rush and was subsequently declared out for Tuesday’s game against the Blues.

Marchand, who missed the final 13:45 of Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury, practiced Monday and was termed “probable” at the time by Julien. Asked whether Marchand’s ailment was a concussion or head injury, Julien said it was not.

Tuesday will mark Marchand’s first missed game of the season. In 19 games thus far, Marchand is tied with Carl Soderberg and Seth Griffith for the team lead with five goals.

David Krejci (lower-body) participated in morning skate and centered his regular linemates in Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith. Julien said that the team didn’t know yet whether he would be in. Julien added that if a callup was made Tuesday, it would mean Krejci would be out.

Kevan Miller, who is cleared to play, also participated in the morning skate. Julien said the B’s will dress seven defensemen in warmups and decide afterwards whether Miller will be in the lineup. Miller has not played since suffering a dislocated shoulder in a fight on Oct. 18.

WILMINGTON — Brad Marchand missed Monday’s practice, while both David Krejci and Kevan Miller took the ice at Ristuccia Arena. After the practice, Julien said that Miller has been cleared to play.

Marchand did not play the final 13:45 of Saturday’s game and also missed the last 6:23 of Wednesday’s game. Following Saturday’s win over the Hurricanes, Claude Julien said that Marchand was “not injured, per se.”

After the practice, Julien said that Marchand was “probable” for Tuesday’s game against the Blues. He added that the injury from which Marchand was suffering occurred in Saturday’s game.

Krejci, who began skating Friday as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, did line drills with his usual linemates in Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith. Chris Kelly, who has played in Krejci’s place during his absence, returned to Carl Soderberg’s line.

Krejci missed the first three games of the season, returned to play nine, missed two more before returning for one game and missing the last four games. He did not appear to be limited in Monday’s practice.

Julien said that he has yet to be notified that Krejci has been cleared to play. Asked whether the team wanted to be more cautious with Krejci this time than last time, Julien denied any previous impatience on the Bruins’ part.

“Well he was 100 percent last time,” Julien said, “and somehow by the end of the game he didn’t feel good again, so we have to take that into consideration as well.”

Miller hasn’t played since Oct. 18 due to a dislocated shoulder suffered in a fight on Oct. 18. He had taken what the team called “light contact” leading up to Monday’s practice, but participated regularly Monday. Julien said that with Miller cleared to play, the only remaining hurdle is for the team to decide whether he has had enough practice time.

Matt Bartkowski made one mistake that could have been costly. Early in the second period, with the Bruins leading Carolina 2-1, Bartkowski turned the puck over to Chris Terry just inside his own blue line. Terry led a quick 2-on-1 and tried to center for Jeff Skinner, who wound up redirecting an aerial pass over the net.

Aside from that one play, Bartkowski’s return to the lineup following seven straight healthy scratches was a good one. He was effective on breakouts. He got involved in the offensive zone and wound up with four shots on goal, tied for the team lead in the game. He was physical, most notably landing a big, clean hit on Patrick Dwyer midway through the second. His plus-3 Corsi was the best among Bruins defensemen in the game.

“I think I did alright for how much time I sat out,” Bartkowski said. “I was moving. I didn’t really give them too much, a few chances, but other than that it went pretty well.”

In many ways, Saturday’s game was a good representation of Bartkowski as a whole. There has always been quite a bit to like about Bartkowski’s game, namely his skating, puck movement in transition and ability to win battles down low.

Let’s not forget that Bartkowski was a top-four defenseman for a stretch during the 2013 playoffs and then for most of last season, and that he was at least serviceable in that role. There’s a reason he got those minutes over other options — because he was better-equipped to handle them.

But there have always been those mistakes, too. They started to reach a breaking point in last year’s playoffs, when he wound up being a healthy scratch in favor of Andrej Meszaros four times in 12 games. Then they continued into this season, and Bartkowski found himself watching from the press box as less experienced players like Joe Morrow, Zach Trotman and David Warsofsky were given a look.

Bartkowski said he didn’t work on any one thing in particular while he was out of the lineup and instead just tried to work hard and stay positive.

“Just worked hard in practice, worked hard on the bike, in the weight room,” Bartkowski said. “That’s about it. … Just playing hockey, that’s all it is. And just focused on staying in game shape.”

Bartkowski playing well can help the Bruins’ back end more than Morrow or Trotman. He could even get back into the top four (for what it’s worth, he was sixth among Bruins defensemen in ice time on Saturday). But he needs to cut down on the mistakes. An occasional mistake is understandable, but if they happen every night, Claude Julien may be forced to bench him again.

Even a mistake like Saturday’s — just one in an otherwise good game — is pushing it. What if the Hurricanes had converted on that 2-on-1 and tied the game? The rest of Bartkowski’s good game would have been completely forgotten and that mistake would have been the story of the game if the Bruins went on to drop a point or two.

It’s a thin line for Bartkowski right now, and that what-if scenario from Saturday highlights just how thin it is.

Claude Julien said after Saturday’s win over the Hurricanes that Brad Marchand is “not injured, per se,” which is a tough way to say that someone isn’t injured.

Marchand did not play the final 13:45 of Saturday’s game. That came two games after Marchand missed the last 6:23 of Wednesday’s loss to the Maple Leafs.

‘He’s not injured, per se, but he wasn’t 100 percent,’ Julien said Saturday. ‘It was a safe route to take, I guess.’

The Bruins are either being cautious or trying to hide the situation the best they can. Remember, Julien called David Krejci‘s preseason injury “very, very minor ” at the time it was suffered. Krejci went on to miss the next three games with what was believed to be a hip injury. The team has still not revealed why Krejci has not played the last four games.

After a treacherous two-game Canadian road trip that saw the Bruins’ get outscored, 11-2, the lowly Hurricanes looked like a worthy opponent for the B’s, but they escaped with a 2-1 win (box) and improved their record for the first time since they were last at home, which was also when they were playing bad teams.

The Hurricanes outshot the Bruins by wide margins in both the first and third periods and would have easily put more than one goal past Tuukka Rask had they finished any of what were multiple gimmes during a 1:44 5-on-3 in the first period. You get breaks like that when you play struggling teams, but by no means were the Bruins dominant.

That’s the Bruins in a nutshell right now. They can get these wins, but they aren’t dominant. The B’s are now 7-3-0 without Zdeno Chara.

Here are four other things we learned Saturday:

BARTKOWSKI RETURNS AS BRUINS SHUFFLE D

Matt Bartkowski made his return to the lineup after sitting the previous seven games as a result of his early-season struggles. He played in place of Zach Trotman, who was a healthy scratch.

That wasn’t the only change to the Bruins’ back end, as Claude Julien broke up Dennis Seidenberg and Dougie Hamilton on the top pairing. The pairings were as follows:

Seidenberg – McQuaid
Morrow – Hamilton
Bartkowski – Krug

Bartkowski had a generally good game, with a particularly lengthy first-period shift in the offensive zone among the positives. A turnover in the second period led to a scoring chance for Jeff Skinner, but Saturday was overall an improvement on the mistake-heavy showings Bartkowski had before he was taken out of the lineup.

BERGERON LINE GETS ONE

Bergeron was on the ice for Tlusty’s goal, which made it eight even strength goals against for which he’s been on the ice the last four games.

The results for Bergeron and his line changed later in the period, however, as Brad Marchand‘s work with the puck and ensuing pass set up a Bergeron goal with 50 seconds left in the period. The goal was the first for Bergeron’s line since Reilly Smith’s goal late in the third period of Monday’s win against the Devils.

Bergeron also made a nice heads-up play in the offensive zone in the third period, picking off a Justin Faulk pass to set up a Seth Griffith scoring chance.

Marchand did not play the final 13:45 of the game. That’s something to watch, as he also did not play the final 6:23 of Wednesday’s game in Toronto.

PAILLE MESSES UP, MISSES TIME, MISSES OUT ON GOAL

Daniel Paille turned the puck over in the neutral zone to lead to a lengthy Hurricanes possession on which Jiri Tlusty scored just over seven minutes into the first period. He was given just one more shift the rest of the period and did not play the final 10:27 of the first period.

Paille didn’t take contact with anyone or appear to be in pain on his nine-second shift, which came on the penalty kill. He didn’t look like a guy who was injured, and even if he was, the Bruins probably won’t say anything about it.

Claude Julien threw some different looks out there for his forward lines as the period went on, giving Milan Lucic two shifts with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. The lines were reverted back to normal for the second period.

Paille still has no goals this season. He thought he scored when he wheeled around and in the high slot and whipped the puck through traffic and in, but the goal was waved off due to Gregory Campbell standing in the crease.

The line of Campbell between Paille and Gagne still has just one goal this season, a Campbell game-winner on Oct. 21 against the Sharks,

RASK RECOVERS

Say what you will about Tuukka Rask not starting in Montreal ‘ personally, I thought the Bruins’ plan to go Rask in Toronto and Niklas Svedberg was the right plan going into it, with spectacularly poor results ‘ but Rask had a nice bounce-back performance Saturday against the Hurricanes.

Of course, a lot of goaltenders have good games against the Hurricanes, who entered Saturday 26th in the league in goals scored per game, but the Bruins will take it nonetheless.

One of Rask’s bigger saves came about eight minutes into the third period, when he left a rebound out front for Victor Rask but was able to recover and stop Carolina’s second-chance opportunity.

MONTREAL — The two-game Canadian road trip the Bruins had this week was an opportunity for them to show they can win games that aren’t at home and against bad teams. Instead they looked more like the struggling team they were early on in the season, just without Zdeno Chara and David Krejci.

Claude Julien‘s decision to start Niklas Svedberg over Tuukka Rask looked good early on, as the Bruins held a 1-0 lead after a first period that saw Svedberg deny Max Pacioretty on the doorstep, but things gradually fell apart for the Bruins for a second straight night. With Thursday’s 5-1 loss to the Habs (box) in their final trip to the Bell Centre this regular season, the Bruins fell to 0-2-0 this season against their biggest rivals. They also lost both games of the Toronto-Montreal trip by an aggregate score of 11-2.

Entering Thursday, Svedberg had only started against two teams this season: the Sabres twice and the Islanders once. The Islanders are nothing to sneeze at, but the Sabres entered Thursday last in the NHL with eight points. The Habs proved to be a much different animal, as Max Pacioretty scored a pair of goals as part of a run of four consecutive goals for the Habs beginning in the second period.

Because it’s Montreal and we technically didn’t learn why Alexander Khokhlachev was recalled (see below), this will be a six things we learned. Here are the other five:

BRUINS’ BIG DOGS GETTING BEAT

In Toronto, we pointed out that Patrice Bergeron had been on the ice for four five-on-five goals against in a two-game stretch. Make it seven in three games, as Bergeron’s line and the Dougie Hamilton – Dennis Seidenberg pairing allowed two second-period goals Thursday and allowed another in the third.

For as swell as it is that Bergeron’s line was producing more recently and that Hamilton has played big minutes and put up points (including a first-period power play goal Thursday), the Bruins aren’t happy when anyone gives up goals in bulk, let alone their best players.

The last time Bergeron had a minus-3 rating in a game prior to Thursday night was on Feb. 11, 2011. Bergeron has now been a minus player in seven of his 18 games this season; he was a minus player just 14 times all last season.

Thursday’s game was Milan Lucic‘s first game back at the Bell Centre since doing that thing he did with his hand last month. Rather than making another not-so-wise choice, however, Lucic was the guy drawing the dumb penalty Thursday night.

After placing a big open-ice hit on Jiri Sekac late in the second period, Lucic was approached by P.K. Subban. Lucic seemed interested in dropping the gloves, but Subban instead cross-checked him. Knowing Subban wasn’t going to fight him, Lucic didn’t retaliate and Subban was the only player given a penalty.

The Bruins didn’t score on the power play, but that was one of the minor, minor victories they could take from the night.

DALE WEISE STILL MATTERS TO THIS RIVALRY

Dale Weise, who first made enemies with the Bruins as a Vancouver Canuck in the 2011-12 regular season and only heightened things last postseason, figured to remain a big part of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry this season. That was put in doubt, however, when the man Milan Lucic not-so-affectionately referred to as a “baby” after Game 7 was made a healthy scratch by the Habs in the first meeting between the teams this season.

Weise was in the lineup Thursday, however, and he made quite the impact. First, Weise fought and defeated Gregory Campbell in the opening minutes of the game. In the second period, the veteran winger was tripped by Dennis Seidenberg while on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot on which he scored easily on a gaping five-hole exposed by Svedberg. He also picked up the primary assist on Max Pacioretty‘s second-period goal. He also took a goaltender interference penalty late in the game, which earned him a punch to the head from Adam McQuaid.

Speaking of five-hole goals for Weise, that’s a spot that’s been good to Weise in this building against the Bruins. Weise beat Rask on a breakaway in Game 3 of the second round last postseason.

WE LEARNED NOTHING ABOUT WHICH GUY IS AILING…

The Bruins recalled Alexander Khokhlachev on an emergency basis Thursday, with Claude Julien saying prior to the game that the recall had nothing to do with David Krejci being out and that a different player would be a game-time decision against the Habs.

Khokhlachev didn’t take a single line rush in warmups and was made the healthy scratch. The good news for him: he gets the NHL pay. The bad news: The Moscow native’s parents, who now live in Toronto, made the trip to Montreal for the game.

Mark Divver of the Providence Journal tweeted earlier Thursday that Carl Soderberg was the player in question. Soderberg played through a wrist injury earlier in the season but did not miss any games.

… BUT MATT FRASER SOMEHOW IS NOT

Matt Fraser fought back in his days of junior hockey in the WHL and dropped the gloves twice last season, but he says he doesn’t consider himself a fighter. Instead, he considers himself a player who wants to show his team he’s willing to do anything.

That’s admirable, but maybe Fraser shouldn’t be so willing to fight for a little bit. The third-line left wing dropped the gloves in the second period and got clocked by Nathan Beaulieu amidst multiple punches he took from the Habs defenseman. Fraser didn’t look in great shape as he went straight to the training room rather the penalty box.

Perhaps surprisingly, Fraser returned to the game in the third period.